Google’s two-step authentication has just gotten better – again – thanks to new information being added to its prompts. Previously, when receiving a two-step verification prompt on a phone, the prompt the user would receive typically only asked if they were attempting to sign into their Google account on a new device. That presents a problem since any login to a new device – if it just happened to take place at the same time a malicious entity was making an attempt – could easily have resulted in the user inadvertently allowing a malicious user to sign in. The new information Google is adding provides greater detail to a user so that he or she can be absolutely certain that it is not somebody else attempting a login.
In the above scenario, the user would likely have never even known the breach had occurred. The newest addition to the prompts should alleviate that problem. The information provided within the new prompts will outline the operating system, browser, device type and model, IP address, nearest knowable location, and the time at which the login was attempted. While only as much information as is readily available will be shown, users should be able to use whatever information does show to pinpoint whether or not any sign-in attempt is valid. For example, a user in Southeast Asia who happens to own nothing but ASUS devices and only uses Chrome may at some point have two prompts hit his or her device. With the newest update, the user should easily recognize that something is not right upon seeing that one attempted account login occurred near Los Angeles or via a Samsung Device using Firefox – or some other browser. That user would then be able to immediately deny access to whoever was attempting to breach the account.
Security is a top concern for a huge number of people. So it’s great to see the search giant adding extra levels of security to its services. Google made the announcement of the incoming changes via the company’s official G Suite Updates blog on February 22. Unfortunately, the announcement also lists that the rollout will be “gradual” and that it could take in excess of 3 days for many users to see the changes. However, it is also slated to be provided to all users across all editions of G suite. That should include just about every user of the 2-step authentication feature.
